It is classified as a D-type asteroid and is probably composed of organic-rich silicates, carbon and anhydrous silicates.

Thule was the first asteroid discovered with a semi-major axis greater than 4 AU.

It was discovered by Johann Palisa on 25 October 1888 in Vienna and was named after the ultimate northern land of Thule.

[4] The orbits of these bodies are unusual.

They orbit in the outermost edge of the asteroid belt in a 4:3 orbital resonance with Jupiter, the result of the periodic force Jupiter exerts on a body with Thule's orbital period, in the same way (though with the reverse effect) as the Kirkwood gaps in the more inner parts of the asteroid belt.